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The New 5
The New 5 is a fresh contemporary jazz quintet with roots in post-bop.
About Me
The new five jazz quintet features trumpeter/producer Thomas Heflin along with Peter
Stoltzman on
piano, Chris Budhan on bass, Michael
Arthurs on tenor saxophone and David Colvin on drums. Collectively, the members of the
ensemble have worked
professionally with the likes of
James Williams, Eric Revis, Adonis Rose, Neal Caine, Steve Gadd, Eddie Gomez, Ron
Westray and Donald Brown among others. The group met while working on their degrees
at the University of Texas at Austin. They soon formed a musical rapport and decided to
put together a recording project to feature their original compositions. This culminated in
their debut album, Introducing the New 5.
What makes this group especially unique is each members dedication to promoting jazz
education. By 2010, four of the five members will have doctorates in music. These include
doctorates in Music and Human Learning, Jazz Performance and Jazz Composition. In
addition, Dr. Chris Budhan, the groups bass player, leads a music festival every year in his
home town of Charlottetown, PEI Canada. The festival gives young jazz musicians live
performance opportunities as well as offering them lessons and master classes from
seasoned jazz artists. The combined education and expertise of the New 5 members
makes them the ideal group for master classes at festivals or camps.